The remains of
the foundations of the world of Jesuit missionaries are scattered along
the banks of the Sinaloa River, in the northwest of Mexico.

Sipping
a cup of coffee, the historian from Guasave, Ramón Hernández, spoke to
me about El Nío, a small village 10 km to the north, and of its famous
patron saint, San Ignacio de Loyola.

There
is a strange, life-sized, figure of San Ignacio carved out of stone in
the El Nío church. The whole carving is the color gray with the exception
of the head that is in many colors. Although the figure is dressed,
the faithful have placed a cape and a type of embroidered shawl over it.

"When
they want it to rain, the people take the figure and bathe it in the river,"
says the historian; but sometimes obstinate, the saint does not always
give the people what they want. "When he does not want it to rain, he
does not allow himself to be carried."

San
Ignacio may seem a hard saint, but, in a way, El Nío and the hundreds
of villages in the northwest of Mexico and the south west of the United
States owe their existence to him. In addition, the states of Sonora,
Baja California, Sinaloa and to a certain extent, California, Arizona,
Durango and Chihuahua would not be what they are today without him, because
this saint's children created that whole missionary world as of the 16th
century. Precisely those regions around the Sinaloa River where Guasave
and El Nío are located were their cradle.

The
point of departure of what can be considered the foundation of the Jesuit
missionary world is located in the current Sinaloa de Leyva, some 80 km
from the mouth of the river. Today, this is one of the most picturesque
cities in the northwest of Mexico. Its principal virtue lies in its decrepit
atmosphere, its crooked, narrow streets and in the infinite number of
old 19th century and beginning of the 20th century
houses with their high roofs, elegant cornices, and Roman patios.

The
Jesuits' exploits started here in 1591 with the arrival of Fathers Gonzalo
de Tapia, a Spaniard, and Martín Pérez, a Mexican. In those days, Sinaloa
de Leyva used to be called Villa de San Felipe y Santiago de Sinaloa,
and it was no more than a sad memory of the failed attempts to conquer
by the Spaniards.

Martín
Pérez started preaching downstream while Gonzalo de Tapia went north.
The latter was short, had poor eyesight, was a bit of a joker, and had
a great gift for languages. After being in Sinaloa for just one
month, he was able to make himself understood in two indigenous languages.
He immediately began to preach the Christian Gospel through catechisms
and hymns, but his labor caused a great deal of discontent among the local
shamans, to the degree that one of them, Nacaveva,
ended up killing him and eating him for supper. But de Tapia had already
sown the seed. The humble stick and mud hut he had built with Pérez in
Villa de San Felipe y Santiago (of which naturally nothing remains) later
became the Jesuits' regional center. The Compañía established a big church
and a school there for the education of the Indians, as well as copious
granaries, a pharmacy and an infirmary. However, very little of what the
Jesuits built or made remains.

The
solidity of the socio-economic work of the Compañía, together with the
nearby mineral wealth -mainly from Chínipas in the current state of Chihuahua-
left the village in a relatively prosperous situation.

Towards
the end of the 18th century, Sinaloa de Leyva had a population
of about four thousand and was the biggest town in what is today Sinaloa.
But it still grew to reach a population of ten thousand by the end of
the 19th century. As a testimony of its vigor, we have the
aforementioned mansions, but the expulsion of the Compañía de Jesús undoubtedly
contributed to this village loosing its claim of being the main town in
the territory.

EL NÍO'S ENEMIES

Villa
de San Felipe y Santiago was not, strictly speaking, a mission town; it
was, rather, a Spanish villa. However, missionaries did go to Cubiri,
7 km to the south, and to Bamoa, 18 km away. Bamoa also has colonial
houses and buildings, but it lacks the ancient atmosphere. It also has
curious origins. History books tell us that is was founded by Álvar Núñes
Cabeza de Vaca, the explorer who went on one of the most fantastic journeys
in history, between Louisiana and Sinaloa. In Sonora, he was joined by
a group of Pima Indians who accompanied him on the final part of the trip.
When they found some other Spanish soldiers near the Sinaloa River in
1536, the Pima escorts wisely kept their distance from the soldiers who
formed part of the troops of the fearful Nuño de Guzmán and founded the
village. Later on, at the end of the century, Martín Pérez, Hernando Santarén
and the Portuguese Pedro Méndez arrived at the newly founded village and
opened a mission.

The
Jesuit church in Bamoa, like the others in the riverbank towns and villages,
was destroyed by the flooding of the Sinaloa River in 1770. The current
church appears to have been built in the 19th century, although
it was remodeled during the 20th century.

El
Nío, 10 km to the south, is the village that suffered most from the dismantling
of the Jesuit missionary system. In order to understand its history fully,
it has to be appreciated that today it consists of two villages, El Nío
and 2 km to the south, Pueblo Viejo. The first mission in El Nío, established
in 1595 was located in the latter. The Jesuits began building a large
church in about the middle of the 18th century, but the river
flooded in 1758 and the works, which had advanced well, had to be abandoned.
The remains of this incomplete church still stand and are some of the
most impressive in the region.

After
the flood, the village was re-founded upstream, although not the whole
population went to the new site. Construction on another church started
next to the current church in El Nío, but, as though the place was jinxed,
it was struck by another calamity. On this occasion, Carlos V outlawed
the Compañía de Jesús from the entire Spanish empire in 1767, leaving
the missions abandoned yet again.

The
current church in El Nío was built in the 19th century and
is the location of the already mentioned figure of San Ignacio that was
made prior to the village's move.

THE EXEMPLARY GUASAVE MISSION

El
Nío is 10 km from Guasave and the area irrigated by the Sinaloa River
is becoming increasingly widespread. The long irrigation canals
that have made this into one of the richest agricultural areas in the
country were dug at the beginning of the 20th century, but
necessarily, they go back to the agricultural prosperity of the times
of the missions. Many different types of crops were introduced during
the 16th century, including garbanzo beans and garden produce.

Apart
from being centers of diffusion of the Christian faith, the missions also
had economic and educational functions, and they managed to grow more
than sufficient crops for local consumption. The excess was sold in the
nearby sierras, or was used to feed the new missions founded further north
or on the west coast of the Sea of Cortez during their first years of
existence.

THE END OF THE MISSIONS

The
last mission village along the Sinaloa River is Tamazula, 18 km south
of Guasave. We had the opportunity of speaking to Don Hermes González
Maldonado at the community museum there. Don Hermes knows the history
of the town better than anyone else does. He explained to us that Tamazula
is one of the oldest permanent settlements in the region: the Indians
were established there long before the arrival of the Jesuits, and it
appears that the place was visited in about 1530 by the sea expedition
led by Don Diego Hurtado de Mendoza.

The
mission in Tamazula, also built in the 16th century, was founded
by Father Clerecis, and similar to the one in Guasave, was downed by strong
winds and cyclones. There is nothing left in Tamazula to remind us of
the times of the Jesuits, except for Don Hermes's story.

We
left the underbrush and the hills behind us on the last leg of our journey
to Playa Las Glorias, just by the mouth of the river. On the way, we saw
irrigation canals, plenty of cattle, ostrich and shrimp farms, crops growing
in fields and straight roads. San Ignacio's children would have enjoyed
this sight as well as the spectacular sunsets at Las Glorias (the most
beautiful we had ever seen), which can today be peacefully enjoyed by
tourists.

IF YOU'RE
GOING TO THE MISSIONS ALONG THE SINALOA RIVER.

The
city of Guasave is located on the border of the México-Nogales Highway,
which, at that level, has turned into Federal Highway 15. You can take
public transport from there to any of the mentioned villages. If you are
driving, take any of the following routes: NORTH: You will find signs
to the highway that will take you the 40 km to Sinaloa de Leyva in Guasave.
However, the road going to Bamoa Pueblo, El Nío and Pueblo Viejo runs
parallel to the other, about 2.5 km southeast of it. Depending on your
travel plans, ask for this road in Guasave or in Sinaloa de Leyva. SOUTH:
To get to Tamazula, you have to follow the signs in Guasave and take the
paved highway to Las Glorias. After ten kilometers, in El Cubilete, turn
left (towards the southeast); Tamazula is 8 km of straight road from that
junction. To go on to Playa Las Glorias, take the dirt track opposite
the church in Tamazula; this will take you to Zerote and La Brecha. At
this last town, you will again get on to the paved highway. The beach
is only 13 km from this point.